Doesn't save PNG with .png extention

[Darylmark]

Title says it all..the saved png files themselves are fine but they are saved without the extention so Paint.NET won't recognize them unless you edit the filename itself..

[Rick Brewster]

I'll need some more in-depth steps for reproducing this. Can you give a step-by-step list of instructions that exactly detail what you are doing? (everything works fine on my system)

[Darylmark]

Trust me to have a unique problem..OK - most of the stuff I do needs to be saved in png format. My sources can be any other, but usually jpeg or BMP. I do the work, keep a save file in PNT format and when I am done, I save the final file as PNG. I am not sure what more I can tell you about it? Not all have layers, not all are complex..sometimes it is simply a case of getting the original, opening it and then and resaving it to PNG. How specific do you want me to be? The BMP files are almost always created by UVMapper, the others, jpeg and gif etc come from all over...

[Darylmark]

If system info is important:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600

OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation

System Manufacturer NVIDIA

System Model AWRDACPI

System Type X86-based PC

Processor x86 Family 15 Model 12 Stepping 0 AuthenticAMD ~2210 Mhz

BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG, 8/27/2004

SMBIOS Version 2.2

Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS

System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32

Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1

Locale United States

Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"

Total Physical Memory 1,024.00 MB

Available Physical Memory 678.73 MB

Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB

Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB

Page File Space 2.40 GB

Page File C:\pagefile.sys

The video card is Nvidia GFX5500 128 DDR

[Rick Brewster]

I need exact steps so that I can try to reproduce the problem. Specifically, what you do to initiate the Save operation (File->Save or File->Save As or the save icon or Ctrl+S or Ctrl+Shift+S), and exactly what you're typing into the Save As dialog and what other options you've chosen in that dialog, etc. The devil's in the details, so to speak. They might not seem important, but they could be!

[Crazy Man Dan]

If you save a file by typing "filename.png" into the file name box, but the drop-down under it is still set to ".pdn", the program will write a file with the PNG extension, but the .pdn data. You'll get the Windows PNG icon for the image, but Windows Picture and Fax Viewer will give you a "No Preview Available" message if you try to view it. Paint.NET also will be unable to open it.

I ran into this quite a lot when I first started using it (I like The GIMP's auto file-type detection). It's also a problem I've seen before with PhotoShop, so at least Paint.NET is in good company! :wink:

[Darylmark]

It occurs when I first save another file type as .PNG - I use 'Save As.." and leave the default file name usually (eg the file name I started with - this works just fine with other types). Never used the icon. If I resave a .PNG file, I must click on the file icon itself or type .png into the Save As dialogue after the file name or Paint.NET saves it without extention as well..

[Darylmark]

I've been upgraded to release candidate 1 - and the problem seems to have gone away..it now shows .PNG files when the Open dialogue is set to All Image Types and it now saves with the correct extention. Fingers crossed...

[Rick Brewster]

If you save a file by typing "filename.png" into the file name box, but the drop-down under it is still set to ".pdn", the program will write a file with the PNG extension, but the .pdn data. You'll get the Windows PNG icon for the image, but Windows Picture and Fax Viewer will give you a "No Preview Available" message if you try to view it. Paint.NET also will be unable to open it.

I ran into this quite a lot when I first started using it (I like The GIMP's auto file-type detection). It's also a problem I've seen before with PhotoShop, so at least Paint.NET is in good company! :wink:

This is one of those darned-if-you-do, darned-if-you-don't areas of usability.

Implementation #1: If you specify a different extension in the name you give us we save as that type instead. This makes sense if you just hit Save As and then type in "blah.jpg" when the default file type choice is set to PNG. You lose the ability to save an image with a "wrong" extension (there are times when you actually want this oddly enough), but the real usability loss is that we are technically doing something other than what you told us to do. Your dialog box choices technically told us to save as a PNG, but we saved as a JPEG and didn't tell you.

Implementation #2 (the way PDN is right now): We only save using the file type you specify in the drop-down list. If you provide no extension, we add on the default extension of the file type (JPEG is .jpg, etc.). This causes annoyance when you type in "blah.jpg" but we save it as a PNG. We're technically following your direct orders ("save blah.jpg as a PNG"), but it's possibly not what you intended.

In either case, if you type in "blah.jpg" and the drop down choice is "PNG", there is no way for us to tell whether you want to save it as a JPG or as a PNG. We aren't psychic. So we err on the side of not trying to be psychic by second-guessing things, and thus we just do exactly as we're told by the values in the dialog box.

Actually there's a third option... maybe we'll try this in the future. I think I tried it once but it was close to a deadline and so I scrapped it.

Implemtnation #3: You type in "blah.jpg", the drop down says PNG, and we save as "blah.jpg.png" as a PNG file.

[Crazy Man Dan]

Oh, don't worry. I understand where you're coming from. And I understand why it is the way that it is! Honestly, I believe The GIMP will do the same thing if you specify a file extension to use in its file-type drop-down box but put a different extension in the filename box. (Or maybe it does implementation #3 up there... I'm not certain.)

But there's this option in the "Select File Type" drop-down called "By Extension." It'll automatically parse your input into the text box for the last "." and save it as the appropriate file. If you forget to enter an extension, it'll pop up an "Unknown File Type" error box so you know you're stupid. A long time ago, I chose "By Extension," and since it remembers that and defaults to it next time I open the program, I've just become so used to it that I sometimes forget when I'm using other programs that I can't just type in my extension all whillie-nillie like that.

It's not a problem or complaint, and I'm sorry if I came off as meaning such. Everyone does things the way they see is best, and this is just the way that Paint.NET does it. And the way you chose is straightforward, meaning more easily approachable by the novice. Since that's your target audience, don't change a thing!

[Rick Brewster]

It's not a problem or complaint, and I'm sorry if I came off as meaning such.

Oh, I thought nothing of the sort, I was just doing one of my verbose explanations as usual.

A "By extension" option in the Save As dialog is an interesting idea. Although if you don't type in an extension .........

[Crazy Man Dan]

Alrighty. I'm just makin' sure I haven't offended anybody!

I think, though, the best implementation of the three you mentioned up there would be #3. Afterall, if I say I want my file name to be bodyrpt.png and my filetype to be .pdn, then I should end up with bodyrpt.png.pdn.

I know it sounds strange like that, but consider how it is now: If I save as bodyrpt.png with .pdn selected in the drop-down, then close the file before I realize my error, I get a .png encoded as a .pdn which can't be opened in anything. Now I have file I can't use on the web because of it .pdn back-end, but one that can't be opened again in Paint.NET to save correctly because of its .png extension.

Or maybe, you could put in some error checking and, when someone enters bodyrpt.png with .pdn selected, you could pop up an error box:

Attention!
You included your own extension in the filename,
but that extension does not match the requested
file-type. What would you like Paint.NET to do?

o Save file as bodyrpt.png
o Save file as bodyrpt.pdn
o Save file as bodyrpt.png.pdn

[OK] [Cancel]

Of course, "Save file as bodyrpt.png" would be the default selected radio button: If they took the time to type it in, chances are that's what they really want and the drop-down selection was just an oversight.

Man, that's a lot of hand-holding... I don't know. Just a thought. Or you could pop-up a simple alert box saying "Your filetypes don't match!" or something like that.

But, anything's better than an unusable file due to such a small user oversight.